John Stevens Jr. (c. 1715 – May 10, 1792) was a prominent colonial American landowner, merchant, and politician.

Early life

Stevens was born in 1715 at Perth Amboy in the

Province of New Jersey The Province of New Jersey was one of the Middle Colonies of Colonial America and became the U.S. state of New Jersey in 1783. The province had originally been settled by Europeans as part of New Netherland but came under English rule after the ...

in what was then

British America British America comprised the colonial territories of the English Empire, which became the British Empire after the 1707 union of the Kingdom of England with the Kingdom of Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, in the Americas from 16 ...

. He was the son of John Stevens Sr., who came to America in 1699 at the age of 17 as an indentured clerk, and his wife Ann Campbell.

Career

US-Colonial (NJ-179)-New Jersey-25 Mar 1776 OBV

With his brother Richard, he owned mercantile vessels and commanded them on voyages to

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and the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

between 1739 and 1743. He then settled in Perth Amboy, where he was a vestryman at St. Peter's Church from 1749 to 1752. He was a large landowner in the New Jersey counties of Hunterdon,

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

, and

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, and he owned a copper mine at Rocky Hill that was later abandoned.Rutherfurd, Livingston
''Family Records and Events''
(1894), pp. 72–80.

Colonial politics

Stevens was a member of the New Jersey General Assembly in 1751. He served as paymaster of the

1st New Jersey Regiment The 1st New Jersey Regiment was the first organized militia regiment in New Jersey, formed in 1673 in Piscataway "to repel foreign Indians who come down from upper Pennsylvania and western New York (in the summer) to our shores and fill (themse ...

(the "Jersey Blues") under Colonel

Peter Schuyler Pieter Schuyler (17 September 1657 – 19 February 1724) was the first mayor of Albany, New York. A long-serving member of the executive council of the Province of New York, he acted as governor of the Province of New York on three occasions ...

from 1756 to 1760. In 1758, he was appointed by the Assembly of New Jersey to serve as a commissioner to the state's Indian tribes. In 1762, he was named a member of the

New Jersey Provincial Council The New Jersey Provincial Council was the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature under colonial rule until it was replaced by the New Jersey Legislative Council under the New Jersey Constitution of 1776. History The Provincial Council was estab ...

, a position that he resigned in 1770. Stevens was a vocal opponent of the Stamp Act. When the act went into effect in 1765, he was one of a committee of four (with Robert Livingston,

John Cruger Jr. John Cruger Jr. (July 18, 1710 – December 27, 1791) was the speaker of the Province of New York assembly and the 41st Mayor of New York City. He was born July 18, 1710, the son of John Cruger and Maria Cuyler. He was a New York City merchan ...

, and Beverly Robinson) to prevent the issue of stamps in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. In 1770, he was appointed a commissioner, along with Walter Rutherfurd, to establish the partition line between New York and New Jersey.

Post-independence politics

In 1776, after the Provincial Congress had become the

New Jersey Legislature The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and the ...

under the state's first Constitution, Stevens was elected Vice-President of Council of New Jersey, holding the office of chairman of the joint meetings of the legislature until 1782, representing Hunterdon County. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1784. He was president of the convention of New Jersey when the state ratified the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...

on December 18, 1787.

Personal life

In 1748, he married Elizabeth Alexander (1720–1800), daughter of James Alexander (1691–1756),

Surveyor General A surveyor general is an official responsible for government surveying in a specific country or territory. Historically, this would often have been a military appointment, but it is now more likely to be a civilian post. The following surveyor ge ...

of New Jersey and New York and counsel for Peter Zenger, and Mary Spratt Alexander, a merchant in her own right. Together, they were the parents of two children: * John Stevens III (1749–1838), who married Rachel Cox, a descendant of the Langeveldts who originally settled

New Brunswick, New Jersey New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat, seat of government of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Rachel was the daughter of John Cox, Esq. of

Bloomsbury, New Jersey Bloomsbury is a borough in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the borough's population was 870,Horace Binney Horace Binney (January 4, 1780 – August 12, 1875) was an American lawyer, author, and public speaker who served as an Anti-Jacksonian in the United States House of Representatives. Early life Binney was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the ...

. * Mary Stevens (1751–1814), who married Chancellor Robert R. Livingston (1746–1813), negotiator of the

Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase (french: Vente de la Louisiane, translation=Sale of Louisiana) was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. In return for fifteen million dollars, or app ...

. His later years were spent with his son at Hoboken, where he died in May 1792. He was buried at the Frame Meeting House in Bethlehem Township,

Hunterdon County, New Jersey Hunterdon County is a county located in the western section of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population was 128,947, making it the state's 18th-most populous county,''New Jersey Archives, Vol. XX: New Jersey Colonial Documents''
(2005), pp. 568–9.

Descendants

Through his son John, he was the grandfather of thirteen grandchildren, including John Cox Stevens (1785–1857), first commodore of the New York Yacht Club,

Robert Livingston Stevens Colonel Robert Livingston Stevens (October 18, 1787 – April 20, 1856) was an American inventor and steamship builder who served as president of the Camden and Amboy Railroad in the 1830s and 1840s. Early life Stevens was born in Hoboken, New ...

(1787–1856), the president of Camden and Amboy Railroad, James Alexander Stevens (1790–1873), Richard Stevens (1792–1835)
Francis Bowes Stevens
(1793–1812), Edwin Augustus Stevens (1795–1868), founder of Stevens Institute of Technology, Elizabeth Juliana Stevens (1797–1821), Mary Stevens (1799–1825), who was the first wife of Rear Admiral Joshua R. Sands, Harriet Stevens (1801–1844), who was the second wife of Joshua R. Sands, Esther Bowes Stevens (b. 1804), and Catherine Sophia Van Cortlandt Stevens (b. 1806).

References

External links

Biography
at the ''

Biographical Directory of the United States Congress The ''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress'' (Bioguide) is a biographical dictionary of all present and former members of the United States Congress and its predecessor, the Continental Congress. Also included are Delegates from ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Stevens, John (New Jersey) 1710s births 1792 deaths People of colonial New Jersey Continental Congressmen from New Jersey 18th-century American politicians Politicians from Perth Amboy, New Jersey Politicians from Hunterdon County, New Jersey Members of the New Jersey General Assembly Members of the New Jersey Provincial Council Members of the New Jersey Legislative Council Place of birth missing Burials in New Jersey People from Rocky Hill, New Jersey